Dolly Varden
original mix of pop, folk, soul, country, r&b & rock.
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A dolly varden is a stubborn, iridescent trout found in the northwestern United States. dolly varden is also a band from Chicago that features evocative songwriting, soulful harmony vocals, and an intriguing mix of musical influences.
dolly varden's co-lead vocalists, the husband and wife songwriting team of Diane Christiansen and Stephen Dawson, have a partnership that goes back more than a decade. As the leaders of Chicago's Stump the Host from 1988 to 1993 the duo developed a powerful, emotional singing style. Greg Kot at the Chicago Tribune raved, "the harmonies of Dawson and Christiansen frequently turn plai tivness into ecstasy and a twangy two-step into a soulful bon-fire." Within the five year life of Stump the Host, the couple signed a publishing deal with Polygram Music, recorded with producer Steve Berlin (Los Lobos), and released a critically acclaimed single on Minty Fresh Records.
In 1994 Dawson and Christiansen hooked up with drummer Matt Thobe and guitarist Mark Balletto and began working on a new band to pick up where Stump the Host had left off. The four musicians spent a year in the coachhouse behind Dawson and Christiansen's two-flat home exploring dozens of songs, textures, and instrumental variations. By early 1995, with bassist Michael Bradburn rounding out the lineup, the band had converted their coachhouse into a makeshift recording studio and were working on their debut album. Mouthful of Lies, released on their own Mid-Fi label in June of 1995 brought dolly varden unexpected national and local rave reviews, radio airplay, and showcases across the country. Richard Milne at WXRT in Chicago named it the local album of the year. A year later the band was traveling from New York to Los Angeles playing shows and meeting with record company executives.
dolly varden signed on with Evil Teen Records in 1997. The label gave the band enough money and freedom to upgrade their recording gear and to mix their new recordings in a bigger studio. The Thrill of Gravity, released in March of 1998, expanded the band's musical palette with edgy pop and unflinchingly honest songs. The Chicago Daily Herald named it the best album of 1998. dolly varden spent the rest of the year on tour to support the album, earning glowing reviews from CMJ, No Depression, Pulse, and numerous local magazines and newspapers along the way. Mainstay headliners in their hometown, they shared the stage with Freedy Johnston, Semisonic, Buffalo Tom, Whiskeytown, The Bottle Rockets, James McMurtry, Kim Richey, Gov't Mule, Alejandro Escovedo and many others.
dolly varden's new album, The Dumbest Magnets, is the band's most focused effort yet. Impeccably produced and recorded by Brad Jones (Steve Forbert, Marshall Crenshaw, Jill Sobule) at his live-in studio in Nashville, the band shows a new creative maturity and confidence as a result of years spent together on stages, in vans, writing songs, and recording. From the quiet, mysterious opener, "Apple Doll", to the exhilarating power-pop of "I Come to You", to the title track, which looks in wonder at the unexplainable faith required to hold together, the album unfolds with cinematic beauty and depth. This song-cycle is Dawson and Christiansen's most unified and evocative body of work to date. The Dumbest Magnets will be released in June, 2000, in the United States and Europe.
Chicago, IL
USA
ID
2515
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Comments (2)
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I pay also for Beatz, Peace!
Would love to hear one your tunes?
-Uncle Shaker
